Galaxy first team to secure playoff spot

CARSON, Calif. (Monday, September 20,
2010) –
Unbeaten in three straight matches, the LA Galaxy will close out a three game
homestand on Friday night when they host the New York Red Bulls at The Home
Depot Center. That game, which is brought to you by Herbalife, kicks off at 8
p.m. and can be seen live on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes.

The Galaxy will be looking to win their third
straight game, which would extend their lead over Real Salt Lake at the top of the MLS and Western
Conference standings. Following their come from behind win over D.C. United
last weekend, a win that clinched a second straight postseason berth for LA,
the Galaxy are now three points clear of RSL with five matches left on the
season. This is the second and final meeting between the Galaxy and New York,
who are currently second in the Eastern Conference, with LA winning 1-0 at Red
Bull Arena on August 14 behind a 10th minute goal from Edson Buddle.
That win stretched the Galaxy’s unbeaten streak over New York to four games dating back to the
2008 season, with LA going 3-0-1 in those matches.

In addition to being shown live on ESPN2 and ESPN
Deportes, Friday’s game against the Red Bulls will be available on the radio
locally in English on KTLK 1150 AM and in Spanish on ESPN Deportes Radio 1330
AM KWKW.

Landon Donovan scored twice in the final 10
minutes as the Galaxy claimed their first come from behind victory of the
season, defeating D.C. United 2-1. LA fell behind in the 60th minute
and Donovan Ricketts made a series of saves to keep the deficit at one before
Donovan rescued the game with a late brace. The Galaxy captain’s second goal
was his 71st regular season goal for the club all-time, making him
LA’s all-time leading scorer.

FIRST TO 50: With their win over D.C. United on Saturday, the LA Galaxy
became the first team in MLS this season to reach 50 points. With a 15-5-5
record, the Galaxy have now won 15 games in a season for the first time since
2002, which is also when they last eclipsed the 50 point plateau, finishing the
year with a 16-9-3 record for 51 points. LA also registered 50 or more points
in 1998 (68 points), 1999 (54 points) and 2000 (50 points).

With five games remaining on the season, the Galaxy could
finish with as many as 65 points, which would be the second highest total in
MLS history, beaten only by the Galaxy’s 68 point season in 1998. If LA can
take 10 of the final 15 points, they will become the third team in MLS history
with 60 points in a season, joining the 1998 Galaxy and 2005 San Jose Earthquakes
(64 points). Finally, with just eight points from their final five games, the
Galaxy will finish with 58 points and set a new record for points in a 30 games
season, surpassing the 2008 Columbus Crew who went 17-7-6 for 57 points en
route to winning the MLS Cup.

In the first 14 years of MLS, 29 teams recorded 50 or more
points in a season, with eight of those going on to win MLS Cup. Since 2007,
the only time that the eventual MLS Cup champion did not record 50 points was
in 2009 when no teams reached that milestone.

POSTSEASON SPOT SECURED: As a result of the Galaxy’s come from behind win over
D.C. United last weekend, LA became the first MLS club to qualify for the 2010
MLS Cup Playoffs. They now have a league-best 50 points with five games
remaining on their schedule. Colorado, Columbus, FC Dallas, Kansas City,
New York, Real
Salt Lake,
San Jose and Seattle can each either match or surpass the
Galaxy this season, but based on those club’s remaining games, not all of them
can, meaning that the Galaxy will finish no lower than eighth in the overall
MLS standings.

With a postseason spot secured, the Galaxy can now focus on
securing a top two spot in the Western Conference, which guarantees home field
advantage in their two-leg, aggregate goal Western Conference Semifinal Series.

Galaxy full season seat holders will be able to use their
Bonus Game E tickets for the Galaxy’s first home playoff game.

DONOVAN’S RECORD SETTING GOALS: Galaxy captain Landon Donovan wrote
his name into the Galaxy record books on Saturday with his two-goal performance
against D.C. United. Those were the 70th and 71st regular
season goals of Donovan’s Galaxy career, making him the club’s all-time leading
scorer, breaking the old record that was held by Cobi Jones. The club’s leading
scorer each year since joining the team in 2005, Donovan scored his 70th
and 71st goals in his 140th regular season game with the
club. Including the postseason, as well as Champions League/Champions Cup,
SuperLiga and U.S. Open Cup games, Donovan now has 89 goals in a Galaxy
uniform.

Additionally, that was Donovan’s 23rd career
multi-goal game in the MLS regular season, giving him the most multi-goal games
in league history. Donovan entered the game tied with FC Dallas forward Jeff
Cunningham and former Galaxy forward Ante Razov with 22 multi-goal games each
before scoring twice on Saturday. Of his 23 career multi-goal games, 16 have
come as a member of the Galaxy.

MARSHALL DEBUTS: Just recalled from his loan
assignment with the Austin Aztex of the USSF Division 2 Pro League last week,
Galaxy defender Yohance Marshall made his MLS debut on Saturday, playing the
full 90 minutes in central defense alongside Omar Gonzalez. An undrafted free
agent in 2009 out of the University of
South Florida, Marshall appeared in one U.S. Open Cup
Play-In Game for the Galaxy in 2009 and was on the field for the second half of
the friendly against Boca Juniors on May 23, but had never appeared in a league
game for the Galaxy before Saturday. The 24-year-old helped the Galaxy allow
just one goal in the game and was booked in the 62nd minute for a
foul on Pablo Hernandez.

OMAR OUT: Galaxy defender Omar Gonzalez was shown his eighth yellow
card of the season on Saturday night against D.C. United, earning him a second
one-game suspension that will keep him out of Friday night’s clash with the Red
Bulls. Gonzalez, who has been booked more than any other player in the league
this season, missed the 2-0 loss at New England on July 10 after being booked
five times, and has now earned a second one-match ban by collecting three more
yellow cards.

The second year center back has appeared in and started all
54 regular season games that he has been eligible for since the start of the
2009 MLS season, only missing the loss at New England
in July for which he was suspended. The 2009 MLS Rookie of the Year, Gonzalez
has played a team-high 24 games so far this season, scoring twice

FOR THE FANS

CUP OF JOE WITH BRUCE ARENA: With just five games remaining
between now and the end of the regular season, Galaxy head coach and general
manager Bruce Arena will discuss the state of the club on this week’s
installment of Cup of Joe, the Galaxy’s weekly live web show hosted by
Joe Tutino. The show will air live at 1 p.m. on the Galaxy’s website, www.lagalaxy.com/cupofjoe,
where it will also be archived for future viewing.

Fans can
participate by asking questions either beforehand or live during the chat.
Start submitting questions for Bruce now to socialmedia@lagalaxy.com.

NEED TO KNOW

LOOKING FOR MORE UPDATES?: If you are looking for continuous
updates from the Galaxy all week long, be sure to visit the club’s official
websites www.lagalaxy.com
and www.lagalaxyfutbol.com,
or the club’s official blog at www.thelagalaxy.blogspot.com
for all the latest news from the club. The Galaxy can also be followed on
Twitter at www.twitter.com/lagalaxy
and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lagalaxy.